


The Universe is Not That Kind

by st_mick



Series: (Mis)Understandings [4]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Episode: s01e12 Captain Jack Harkness, Episode: s01e13 End of Days, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Owen's a jackass, Tosh puts her foot in it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 11:04:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17641568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/st_mick/pseuds/st_mick
Summary: Tosh and Jack are back from the past, and Owen takes delight in Tosh's inadvertently hurtful gossip.





	The Universe is Not That Kind

“You should have seen them,” Tosh quietly gushed.  Now that she was home, she was willing to indulge her exhilaration over her foray into time travel.

Owen leered at Ianto.  “So Jack found himself a bit of stuff, back in the past, did he?”

Ianto kept his face carefully neutral, but he was hanging on every word Tosh uttered, and hating himself for it.

“It wasn’t like that,” Tosh said.  “He – the other Jack – was kind, and good.  He was a hero.  And he died the next day.”  She shook her head sadly at the fate of the handsome pilot.

“Fell in love over the course of one evening?” Owen scoffed.  He didn’t go in for this love at first sight bollocks, but he was having a fine old time watching the Tea Boy squirm as his delusions of Jack “needing” him crumbled.  Served him right, for shooting him.  “Neither of them worried about anyone back home?”

Tosh nodded.  “It was so interesting, watching the mores of the time.  He – the other Jack – did ask our Jack if there was anyone.  Like it was a matter of honor, he wouldn’t push if Jack – our Jack – said yes.”

An evil grin spread across Owen’s face.  “I guess it was a more honorable time.  Eh, Ianto?”

Tosh looked from one man to the other.  Owen looked far too smug, for a man who had just been shot.  And Ianto was so tense he was practically vibrating.  Something caught his attention and he looked up, giving her a glimpse of that awful mask he wore whenever he was hurting…

Oh, dear God, what had she done?

Owen looked at Ianto, wondering how best to enjoy his ultimate victory.  First round to Jones, because of the gun.  But game, set, match to Harper, for a win that he would be crowing over for the foreseeable future. 

But Ianto’s face was utterly inscrutable as his eyes locked onto Jack’s.  Owen idly wondered when the captain had come out of his office, how much he had heard.  Quite a bit, if the look of dismay was anything to judge by.

Wait.  Dismay?  Owen looked back to Ianto, who had turned back to the monitor. 

“No sign of Bilis Manger, Sir,” Ianto said, his voice all efficiency.  “I’ve set up facial recognition software to alert us if he shows up on any camera in a fifty-mile radius.”

“Go home, then.  All of you.  Get some rest.  I have a feeling we’re going to need it.”

***

“Ianto, a word?” Jack spoke quickly before Ianto could escape after setting down his coffee.

“I was just heading out, Sir,” Ianto said, focusing on Jack’s left ear.  Close enough to eye contact to fake it, without the pain of actually having to look at Jack.

Jack had figured this trick out quite a while back – funny how obvious certain things were, when you actually paid attention.  He decided to let it pass.  After what he had overheard Tosh saying, he had a feeling Ianto was not best pleased.

Jack was surprised when Ianto kept speaking.  “Sir, you’ve had a difficult day, and if opening the rift is going to cause as much trouble as you’re expecting, perhaps you should follow your own advice, and get some rest.”

Jack grinned.  “Care to join me?”

Ianto would have seen that the smile did not reach Jack’s eyes, had he not been quite so focused on the man’s ear.  As it was, the proposition almost brought him to his knees. 

But Jack was focused on Ianto’s face and saw the immediate shuttering.  Even his façade blanked.  The man practically phased from the room, such was the immediate diminishment of his presence.  In the next moment, Jack realized the full extent of his mistake as Ianto quietly answered.

“Normally, I would be more than willing to be the consolation prize, but I’m knackered, Sir.  Shooting Owen really took it out of me.  If you’ll excuse me…” he slowly and deliberately turned and walked calmly from the room as Jack sputtered a denial.

***

When Ianto saw Lisa the next day, it felt like the universe had tossed him a lifebuoy to keep him from drowning.  The second Owen shot Jack, he realized the universe was not that kind, after all.  He felt completely numb as he just went through the motions as the rift was opened. 

He’d half hoped the rift would take him.  Or even Abaddon.  But again… the universe was not that kind.

***

**Author's Note:**

> (Mis)Understandings timeline:  
> Canary Wharf: 04.11.2006  
> Cyberwoman: 08.10.2006  
> Broken: 11.15.2006  
> Captain Jack Harkness: 01.15.2007  
> End of Days: 01.16.2007  
> Jack wakens / leaves with the Doctor: 01.19.2007


End file.
